Y. MUSEUM TO EXHIBIT 1ST BONES OF DINOSAUR FOUND IN THE WEST

Brigham Young University's Earth Science Museum will host a Christmas open house featuring the first dinosaur bones found in Western North America, which are on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. Exhibit hours will be Dec. 14 from 5 to 9 p.m. and Dec. 15 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Also planned is a dinosaur Christmas tree and a sale at the gift shop, with proceeds going to help support the museum.Among the items will be quality gems, dinosaur shirts, models, toys, puzzles, posters, stocking stuffers, and rock, mineral and fossil kits, some with polished rocks and semi-precious stones.

The new exhibit features bones discovered in 1859 by John Newberry, a scientist who accompanied a U.S. Army expedition to the West. It was common practice for a scientist to participate in such expeditions. This one, led by Capt. John McCombe, searched for where the Colorado and Green Rivers joined. The bones were found in what is known today as the east canyon of the Canyonlands.

Also new to the museum will be a photographic display of BYU's field work in southwestern Colorado at the Dry Mesa quarry. Among the photographs will be some of Walter Cronkite taken during a recent visit to BYU and the quarry.

The Earth Science Museum is directly west of Cougar Stadium at 1683 N. Canyon Road. Regular museum hours are Monday through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, call 378-4517.